Ocean's Beginning
by IsJustIs
Summary: A young girl is thrown into the ocean during a storm. Her father is dead, and she is all alone in the world. After washing up on a deserted island she meets a notorious pirate. Takes place before and during the opening of CotBP. T for death/language
1. Cordelia

I re-did this, adding a few more details. The story stayed the same though (oh but I did change her age so that it would match up with the story better) :)

* * *

"It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line,

though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean."

- John Locke (1632 - 1704)

_"The wind was in the favor of the small ship that was sailing southeast on the North-West Passage. From the ship came the sounds of new life. A child had been born to the captain's wife."_

Lightning flashed in the distance as the sailor slammed the book shut and threw it onto the deck. "Damn books. There's nothin' useful in 'em."

"Well I like them. They're full of adventure!" The girl who had spoken picked up the book that the old gray haired sailor she knew as Mr. Edinbaugh had dropped, and held it close.

"Ye would," Mr. Edinbaugh said as he pulled out a pipe and lit it. "I don't see why the captain chose to haul books as his trade. I just don't see why he can't choose to transport something more… worthwhile. And why does he bring ye along on these voyages anyway? The sea is no place for a young lady… Not to mention it be bad luck," he mumbled the last bit to himself.

"By worthwhile you mean like rum…" she glanced down at her feet as she spoke.

"Aye!" he said, as he sucked on his pipe, "Like rum." Mr. Edinbaugh glanced at the sky warily. "My bones feel as though a storm be near, but that storm looks farther off than a …"

She frowned as a peal of thunder rumbled blocking out his words. "Mr. Edinbaugh, why are almost all of the sailors alike? Why can't they be more respectable like my father?" she asked as she glanced at the sky herself.

"There are many types of people in this world, Cordelia, and ye will find that they all are respectable… if ye look at it from their point of view," the old sailor reasoned, winking at her with his one good eye. "Now miss if I was ye I would go inside because there is a storm heading right towards the _Misty Morning _and it looks like it'll be a big one," he finished that sentence quickly and pointed to the sky, rushing off towards the wheel.

Cordelia frowned after him as she walked back to the cabin, glancing at the sky that was now filled with dark clouds. She didn't like being treated as if she was completely helpless, she had just turned thirteen after all, yet it was nice to have people care about her. The rain had just started to fall as she entered the cabin and she sat down on her bed. She couldn't help but think about what Mr. Edinbaugh had said. _If you look at it from their point of view._ Feeling slightly childish, she covered her right eye and squinted, laughing to herself. The wind howled outside of the cabin as the ship rocked violently. _"This storm seems much worse than other ones," _thought Cordelia. She stood up and began walking toward the door that led to the deck.

A violent jerk caused her to lose her footing and fall to the floor. A knife clattered and fell in front of her face, causing her to yelp. She sighed in relief, realizing that it was the knife that her father had given her in case of an emergency. She had kept it under her pillow in the cabin. It must have slipped out during all of the ship's rocking. She snatched it up and quickly attached it around her waist. She couldn't help but carry it whenever she was nervous, and although she had been through many storms before, she couldn't help but feel as though this one was different.

A sound from outside made her jump. Rushing to the door, she grabbed the handle and turned it. The wind blew in the door and she struggled to remain standing. She looked out across the deck to see a blur of motion and down pouring rain. She stood there in the doorway trying to understand what was happening. She looked frantically around for Mr. Edinbaugh or her father, or anyone for that matter.

"Father!" she yelled, desperately hoping to get someone's attention. She saw Mr. Edinbaugh and she ran, slipping more than once, towards him. "Mr. Edinbaugh!" she said gasping for breath, "what's happening?"

"The storm's worse than I thought it would be, Cordelia! The mast was snapped in two. Get back inside! It's not safe!"

"Mr. Edinbaugh, where's my father?"

Mr. Edinbaugh looked down for a moment. He then looked up at her and said quietly, "He's gone."

"Gone?" she gasped.

"Aye. He was knocked overboard by the falling mast. There is no way to tell where he is or if he is living, but I don't think he will survive. He was hit on the head pretty hard before he was washed overboard, and I lost sight of him. I'm sorry, Cordelia, I truly am. Now please go back inside, before ye get washed overboard too!"

Cordelia hesitated. Her father. Gone. What was to become of her?

"Cordelia! Go now!" She heard Mr. Edinbaugh shout.

She began her journey back toward the cabin, her tears blending in with the rain.

_I don't think he will survive. I'm sorry._

Lost in her thoughts Cordelia stopped walking and, as fate would have it, at that very brief moment, a wave came rushing over the side of the _Misty Morning_. Cordelia felt herself being pulled into and then under the water. She swam to the surface gasping for air. Floundering in the water, she clung to the first thing she found; a crate that must have washed overboard. She recognized it as one of the crates her father's books were in. She held on for dear life as the waves tossed her back and forth. She gasped when she saw the _Misty Morning _crash into a rock she hadn't noticed before. The storm must have pushed them off course. She didn't think they would be near islands for another day at the least. She watched helplessly as the remainder of her father's boat smashed repeatedly against the rocks. She never would have believed she would ever have to deal with this kind of loss in her life, at least not yet... But she had thought the exact same thing back when her mother passed away. She looked around her at the ocean that she had until recently called her home sweet home. Now… she wasn't so sure she liked it any more. The water began to calm, and she felt her eyelids droop. I can't fall asleep now, she thought, though she knew that given her situation there wasn't anything else she could do. She sighed and closed her eyes. She had cried the last of her energy and tears away, and was ready to drift off.

* * *

Yes, I do realize that this first chapter is all OC. The characters that belong to Disney are coming, I promise :D

In the meantime, comment, review, or even critique :D I don't mind!

Anyhow, I DON'T OWN PotC or any of the PotC characters that will be showing up in later chapters.

love from iarecharlina :D


	2. Washed Ashore

YAY! I finally finished the second chapter! :D Sorry for such a long wait… but college was very… interesting… and busy… BUT NOW IT IS SUMMER!

Here thar be Disney Characters… all of which are owned by… guess who? Disney. Not me. So yeah. Disclaimer out of the way :)

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Cordelia felt a slight breeze and shivered, looking up from where she had washed up onto the beach by the waves. The crate on which she had rested earlier was nowhere to be seen, and she vaguely remembered swimming away from it toward the land she had spotted after having woken up. The sun was low in the sky, night was falling.

She shivered again, wrapping her arms around herself and trying to keep warm, hoping to dry off before the sun set. From where she was sitting, she could see that the beach tapered into a small group of trees.

_I better figure out where I am…_she thought to herself as she stood and brushed sand off her dress. _Now, where should I go…?_ Looking about herself cautiously, she decided to walk along the beach, feeling that it was the safer of the two choices. She found two pieces of driftwood and half-buried them in the sand side by side to mark where she started from. As she walked along the water's edge, the sun sank, and the moon came up giving off a small amount of light, but still Cordelia walked.

She shivered again, as her vision blurred for the second time that day. There were the sticks she had buried. Falling to her knees in the sand she began to sob uncontrollably.

"Miss, I'm a 'ave ta ask yeh teh move."

Startled, Cordelia yelped, and scrambled away from the two men standing a few feet away. The taller man held a lantern

"I dunno 'ow ye gots 'ere, but ye're tresspassin'"

"I… I…" Cordelia tried to form her words into proper sentences, but between her tears and her shock, she was unable to.

"Ye're gonna 'ave ta move back more 'n that" the taller of the two men said.

She scooted back away from the two men standing before her. "Thanks much" and with that, the shorter man began brushing sand away from where she had been sitting.

Cordelia watched as a trapdoor was uncovered. "Wha… What's in there?" she asked as shortie lifted the door up.

"Nothin' ye would be intres'd in girlie."

Cordelia pulled her knees to her chest as she watched the two men carry wooden crates from their boat into the hole. When the men seemed to be on the last of the boxes, the shorter man tripped. "SHIT!" The box fell to the sand with a clink and a shattering sound. Cordelia jumped to her feet as the tall man came out of the hole.

"What the hell was that?"

"I lost me footin'"

The tall man moved over to the fallen crate and pried it open. "Shit…" already Cordelia saw that there was a red liquid seeping out of the cracks of the crate.

"We bettah not waste this eh mate?" shortie asked as the tall man carefully pulled out a bottle with the top broken off. Quicker than Cordelia could blink, the tall man tipped the contents of the broken bottle down his throat.

"Ye're right mate. 'Twould be a cryin' shame fer this teh be wasted."

Although these men were probably Cordelia's only chance of getting off of the godforsaken island, she didn't trust them in the slightest. She remembered something her father had told her…

"A man who is vulgar and crass in front of a young lady can never be trusted to keep her safe… and thus has no part in my crew" He had said this many times to the men on his ship. He always screened each of his crew members by putting them in situations where their morals would be tested.

Cordelia scooted away from the two men quietly, letting them continue with their merrymaking. She would rather die alone on this island than have to put up with them. She touched the knife at her waste and instantly felt better as she hid in among the trees  
-***-

The night came and went, and the men went with it. The sun was just now rising. Cordelia sighed. _How could I have been so stupid?_She thought to herself as she rubbed her sleep deprived eyes, _I had a chance to get back to…_ She stopped when she realized that even if she were to get back into a town, she would have no idea where to go.

Standing up, she looked down at the dagger strapped to her waist, and pulled it out of its sheath. She flipped the blade over a few times in her hand, letting it catch the sun, and smiled. She made up her mind then. She was going to survive._I have to survive_, she thought as she sat down with her back against a tree and drifted into a much-needed sleep.  
-***-

"BLOODY HELL!"

Cordelia jerked awake at the gruff voice that had yelled out. Her hand was instantly on her knife as she spotted the man who was now muttering to himself and kicking up the sand on the beach.

"That's the second time I've had her taken from me."

His clothes were soaked, and she could only assume that he had swam to the island. She looked out to sea and was surprised at what she saw. A ship with black sails. She knew that ship.

* * *

Ok… so this is a shorter chapter than the first one… but I wanted a strong cliffhanger… and I found it. However, because this is so short, and it has been a long time since I put the fixed version of the first chapter, I will make a promise. I will have the third chapter up by this Friday. I will make it so that my third chapter will come out before or on the same day that Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides comes out… because let's face it, my story writing has been slacking, and if I don't get the next chapter done before PotC:OST comes out… I will not go see the film until I post. There. Now I have something to hold myself against.  
~IAreCharlina


	3. Jack

Alright, so I went to see the new movie the day that it came out, and let me just say… EPIC! Ahem… thank you. Anyway, all I really did to change this was fix a few things and add a bit more detail.

Well anyway…

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Pirates of the Caribbean… but sadly, I do not. If I did, I would most definitely make it a never-ending series and I would be in the films myself.

* * *

"It's the Wicked Wench!" gasped Cordelia, and she instantly regretted saying anything. The man spun on his heel and looked directly at her. She pulled out her knife as he strode closer  
"That," he said pointing with a swinging gesture to the ship that was rapidly sailing away, "WAS the Wicked Wench. THAT is now called the Black Pearl. And THAT," he yelled spinning towards the small speck that was left on the horizon, "IS MY BOAT!"

The man picked up a handful of sand and flung it out to sea, "BARBOSSA YOU BLACKGAURD!" and with a final kick of sand he sat down and took off his bandana. His hair fell in his face as he wrung the water out of the slightly faded red cloth. He placed the bandana carefully on the sand and began taking apart the pistol that was at his waist. As he finished laying the pieces out to dry, he stopped suddenly and turned to face Cordelia.

Cordelia instantly raised her knife and pointed it at him. "Stay back!" she hissed.

"Oi! There's no need for that, love." The man said raising his hands, "you're as stuck on this island as I am, not to mention my only weapon is unusable until the powder has dried. Now then, I believe an introduction is necessary. Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service. Now," he reached forward, his rings flashing in the sun, and pushed the tip of the knife away from his face, "I'm sure you've got a name, missy, and probably a good story to go with it. Since we have who knows how long until one of us goes mad with the heat and dehydration. Why don't you share one? Or both for that matter, I can't rightly go calling you love or missy all the time now can I, although..." his voice trailed out

With a slight hesitation, Cordelia put the knife back in the sheath at her hip.

"Your name, miss?"

"Cordelia Smith."

"Smith, eh?"

She nodded

"Fairly common name isn't it? I myself have known quite a few Smiths in my day." He slipped out of his coat, shook it and placed it carefully on the sand. "Used it a good number of times to get out of a bind as well."

"You've… used it?"

"Aye. More than once. The last time I was posing as a judge, I'll probably use it again someday. Now about that story of yours darling."

Cordelia felt the air rush out of her lungs from a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding as she collapsed onto the sand sobbing.

"Oh… wasn't expecting quite that reaction," Jack mumbled, crouching down beside her and pulling her into a hug.

Cordelia felt as though her eyes were on fire. The tears that she had cried last night along with the salt water from the ocean had dried on her face and her fresh tears were irritating her eyes even more.

"There there love," Jack used his sleeve to wipe the tears flowing steadily from her eyes. "It can't be so bad that you can't rise above it. After all, things that seem to be bad are just the way that life tests us… I think… Now… I've found that sometimes the best way to put the past behind is to bring it to the front again… So… your story?"

"I… I…" Cordelia gasped for air.

"Take your time," he said

"My father is dead!"

"And that's your fault is it?" he asked turning her so he could look into her tear filled eyes.

"No! …A storm"

"Ah. Nature's fury. And I assume that it was that storm that brought you here… Yesterday if I'm not mistaken."

Cordelia nodded through her sobs.

"Death is an unavoidable part of life, child..."

"But I missed a chance, probably my only chance, to get off of this island this morning. Two men brought rum here and they buried it… but they left… and…"

"Sorry to break up your sob story, but … what was that you said about rum? There's some buried you said? Cordelia, do you know what that means?" Jack jumped to his feet, "We're saved! Now then, where is this stash of rum?"

"What do you mean by saved?" wondered Cordelia as she looked up at him and tried to pull herself together, "it isn't like we would be able to get very far floating on the barrels and crates of rum that they buried."

"You fail to realize, young missy, that if they buried it here… they will have to come back to dig it up again. And in the mean time we need to stay hydrated… So where did they stash it?"

"There is no way I am touching that… that horrid stuff," Cordelia yelped, pushing herself to a standing position.

"Have you ever tried it Cordelia?"

"Well no… but it…"

"You're how old then," he asked looking her over, "eleven?"

Cordelia crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I'm thirteen."

"Right. I had my first taste of rum at the ripe age of ten…" His voice faded out as he muttered, "Granmama wasn't too pleased at that but…" Jack clapped his hands and continued, "Ah well. Anyway, it isn't a matter of age right now… It's a matter of life and death." Cordelia tried to pull away as he threw his arm over her shoulder, "Unless it rains very soon, which I wouldn't count on, you'll have to drink the rum. Now," he turned her again and she found herself looking directly into his eyes once more, "where did they bury it?"  
-***-

Cordelia led Jack to the hidden stash. The sand around the trapdoor was littered with broken bottles.

"You'd think they'd keep this area a bit more natural," Jack said eyeing the pieces of glass. "Wouldn't want any unwanted guests in the merchandise. Eh?" he questioned putting a finger on the tip of his nose.

Cordelia yelped once again and snatched her knife from its sheath. She backed away from Jack until she bumped into a tree and stood there with her knife pointed directly at him.

"Come now, I thought we were over this," Jack began, taking a step towards her.

"Don't come any closer."

"Oi. What's gotten into you missy?" he wondered,

On his arm where his sleeve had slid up his arm was a white scar in the shape of the letter p. The mark of a pirate.

"You're a pirate!" Cordelia spat out, motioning to the mark just above his wrist.

Jack glanced at his arm, "Oh, so I am…" He turned away from her and finished uncovering the trapdoor. With a loud creak, Jack swung the door open and peered into the hole. "Not bad," he muttered as he began climbing down the stairs.

Cordelia watched as he disappeared into the hole, not once lowering her knife. When Jack reappeared with two bottles. "Oh, come now love. Yes, your father is dead, yes, I am a pirate and yes, we are stuck on this miserable spit of land, together I might add. There's nothing either of us can do to change our circumstances just now, and until there is, you'll just have to deal with the situation at hand."

She looked at the bottle that he was extending towards her and frowned.

"Go on. Put that knife away and relax. You've told me your story. Perhaps hearing mine will put your mind at ease. How does that sound?" Jack motioned towards her with the bottle once more.

Cordelia sulked as she realized that Jack was right. There was nothing that she could do other than wait. She sighed, sheathed her knife and took the bottle from his hand. "That's right love."

As she followed Jack back to the beach, she remembered what Mr. Edinbaugh had told her right before the storm. She would just have to hear him out.

"Now then," he called over his shoulder, "Where shall I start?"

Jack sat down, pulled the cork from the bottle in his hand and made a whistling noise by blowing across the mouth of the bottle. He turned and looked up at her, "make yourself comfortable Miss Smith, mine is a long but quite entertaining story, if I say so myself." He patted the sand next to him.

Cordelia looked down at Jack and sighed as she sat down.

"Now then, Miss Smith, you never answered my question. Where should I start?"

* * *

I figured that I would have this re-edited before the end of the day :) There wasn't much that I needed to change, but this chapter is finalized now, so there will be no more changes to it... which is good news for you as I can now continue the story.

Reviews are great :)  
~IAreCharlina


	4. Coconuts

And so it begins. Just so you know, spoilers for the Jack Sparrow series and a bit of The Price of Freedom are ahead… and through putting them in, it made the story seem a bit… how shall I say it... rushed? But please understand that Jack Sparrow is telling the story, and I can just see him rushing through his life story in as few breaths as possible. Once he is done rambling, the story will begin to pick back up :) (and when I say rambling, I mean really rambling…)

Disclaimer as always: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, nor do I own the incredibly sexy Jack Sparrow.

* * *

"Well, Miss Smith, since you failed to answer my question, I will give you a quick summary of my life. I was born off the coast of India during a hurricane, my grandmother, father, and pretty much all of my family are pirates, I ran away from home so as not to have to deal with my Grandmamma who wanted me to be a pirate, procured an old abandoned ship with the help of a young barmaid, and was the captain of a crew that consisted of said barmaid, an aristocrat, two young sailors, and a cat who was actually the sister of one of those two sailors. I had an encounter with mermaids, ghosts, skeletal beings, giant iguanas, and lost a bunch of my crew who ran off to go their own ways… Ended up confronting Davy Jones, found out that the aristocrat was actually working for the Royal Navy, and the barmaid fell in love with one of my former crewmen," at this point Jack paused, taking a swig of rum from the bottle in his hand, before taking another deep breath and continuing.

"From there, I went back home, but broke one of the rules, and was forced to leave again. I found a job in London being a shop-clerk, didn't like it and left. I was employed by the East India Trading Company, saved one of their ships from a pirate, and was offered a position as the captain of a slave ship… I refused and was given command of the _Wicked Wench_… I found a mystical labyrinth island, and when the EITC director of West Africa heard about it, he demanded I tell him where to find it. When I refused again, he forced me to take a cargo of slaves. Rather than doing as he wanted, I took the slaves to that mystical labyrinth island where the slaves could take refuge and I could free them without worrying that they would be caught again. You can imagine the EITC wasn't too happy, so I was caught and thrown into prison. A few months passed and I was brought out of my cell to watch as my beloved ship was sunk. It was at that time that I was branded," he motioned to his right forearm before taking another swallow of rum.

"I tried to save my ship, but I was ordered to be transported to Port Royal for a 'proper' execution, but luck was on my side when I was tossed from the ship during a storm. Just before I died, I made a bargain with Davy Jones, and I was able to get the _Wicked Wench_ back, and I renamed her the _Black Pearl_. Which reminds me, love, you knew of the _Wicked Wench_ before I said anything… care to explain?"

Cordelia froze. She still wasn't sure if she could trust this Jack Sparrow with anything more than she had already said. She looked down at the sand she was sitting on and drew a simple ship with her dagger. "My… My Great Grandfather built it… Along with one other almost identical to it: the _Misty Morning_. Father always said that Great Grandfather was a superstitious old coot… He felt that with every shadow there would always be a light. When he made any ship, he would always make one with a dark wood, and a second identical ship with a lighter coloured wood. Though I must admit, I didn't think that it would be as dark as pitch…"

"That would be because I painted her black after she was charred…" he sighed, "She was a right pretty old boat."

The sun was low in the sky as Jack stared wistfully out to sea taking another swig of rum before sighing, flopping back on the sand, and changing his focus to the few clouds that were blowing over the island. He pointed at a long wavy cloud that was tinted red with the sun, "That one looks like a sea monster I ran into as a youth. Little known fact about any sea monster, they've all got a nose somewhere, and most of them are ticklish, if you can get close enough…" his voice trailed off to a mumble, "of course it did take quite some time to get the deck clean again."

It was at that moment that Cordelia's stomach gurgled. Jack glanced over at her, "You haven't even touched that bottle. I mean sure you've held it but…"

"I'd rather not…" she mumbled, more to herself than to Jack.

Jack suddenly pushed himself back up to a sitting position. "I've got it! Lend me your knife!"

"What? Why?" Cordelia asked taken aback, her hand instantly covering the dagger on her hip.

Jack mumbled something incoherently and got up. "Can you climb?" he asked her once she had followed him to a tree, "If so, you should be the one to get them down."

"Get what down?"

Jack pointed up to the top of the tree. There, hidden among the leaves were several coconuts, ranging in color from a light brown to a dark green. "You will want to get some of both colors," he told her.

Although the tree was slightly tilted, Cordelia was having a difficult time starting the climb. Jack sighed and made a step out of his hands, lifting her up about halfway, "You're on your own from there." Carefully, she inched her way to the top.

"Now what?" she called down in a wavering voice.

"Reach for your dagger, pull it out and cut some of the green ones down. Some of the brown ones should be ready to fall as well. Just let them drop," Jack told her as he walked further into the trees.

By the time she had gotten over her fear of falling and harvested a whole slew of coconuts, Jack was making his way back towards the beach for the fifth time with an armful of logs and sticks.

"Are you going to stay in that tree all night, or are you going to help me start a fire?" he called up to her as he passed.

"I don't know how to get down…" she whispered.

"What was that, love?" Jack called, making his way towards the beach.

"I don't know how to get down from here," she repeated.

Jack dumped the logs he was carrying on the pile he had made and walked back to the tree. "You certainly got a lovely bunch of coconuts," he said glancing at the pile in the sand, "On any note, I think putting that knife away would be the best start."

Cordelia quickly sheathed her dagger and clutched onto the tree.

"Would you rather take the longer more painful way, or the quick less dignified way? You could slide your way down the tree… or you could just let go and let me catch you."

Cordelia wasn't sure which would be worse. Being caught by a man she hardly knew or scraping up her arms on the trunk of the tree. She sighed in defeat, "catch me."

Jack seemed to be taken aback, "What was that?"

"I said catch me!" she yelled back, "I'm tired of being in this tree!"

"I bet your arms are pretty tired aren't they?"

"ARE YOU GOING TO CATCH ME OR NOT?"

"Fine, fine. Ready?" Jack positioned himself so that when she fell she would fall into his arms. "On the count of three, let go. One… Two… Three."

Cordelia closed her eyes and let go. The air rushed past her as she plummeted towards the ground, but just as suddenly as she let go, she felt herself landing in a pair of strong arms.

"That wasn't so bad now was it, love?" Jack murmured, with one hand on her back and the other under her knees.

"Now then," he began as he set her down on her feet, "let's gather up these coconuts. These should last for a few days."

Cordelia began to scoop up the coconuts that she had dropped from the tree and Jack did the same. Once they had brought all of the coconuts over to the beach, Jack began to set up some logs for a fire, which he started using the flintlock of his pistol to make a spark.

Once the fire was going, Jack picked up a green coconut and sat down. "Now, if you would be so kind," he started pointing at the dagger at her waist, "I can open this bugger up and you can have something other than rum to drink, then I can open one of the others and we will have something to eat."

She pulled out her dagger and with a bit of hesitation gave it to him. He grinned at her, "thanks love," and he began to hack at the top of the coconut, carving a hole. Once he had finished cutting the hole and smoothing the edges he passed the coconut to Cordelia, "Drink up. You need to drink something." Once Cordelia had taken the coconut from him and he was sure that she had started to drink the water inside of it he picked up a brown coconut and began to split it in half. He then used the dagger to carve out the meat. When he was done, he passed her dagger back to her, and she put it back into the sheath at her hip.

They ate and drank in silence as they watched the sun set. Jack occasionally placed another log on the fire. Cordelia sighed before stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She curled up, thinking about everything that happened that day. She was glad that she had decided to trust this man. She shivered as a breeze swept over the island, cooling it with the darkness of the night.

Just before she drifted off to sleep, she felt something being placed over her. She glanced down at Jack's coat with tired eyes and sighed contentedly.

"Sleep well, love," He murmured and placed another log on the fire before falling asleep himself.

* * *

So it has been quite some time since I updated. In that time, I have done the following: gone to Disney World, Bought two new items for the eventual Cordelia photo-shoot I have planned, and have found a way to actually buy a dagger that I imagine looks like Cordelia's... Not to mention I have been cast in a musical production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This summer has been great so far.

Reviews are great [as always] :)  
~IAreCharlina


	5. A Sail

Well, I finally was able to upload a BRAND NEW CHAPTER! *triumphant fanfare* I know, I know… it's about time. Between college, my new job, the Holiday Season and my laptop crashing, this took far too long… and I'm sorry…  
Anyhow: This chapter is short, but now that it is done, I can begin work on the next part of the series, Ocean's Curse! (Look for it to begin in the near future)

Disclaimer: There are DISNEY characters in this story… and I do not own them.

* * *

Cordelia woke with a start. The seagull that had awakened her squawked and flew a little ways off. It was hard for her to believe that it had already been four days since she had washed up on the little island.

She looked around at the remains of broken coconut shells and the now smoldering fire.

_If it hadn't been for Jack_, she thought to herself, _I probably wouldn't be alive_. Yesterday, Jack had taught her how to take the husks of the coconuts to make twine. Once she had gotten the hang of it, he had borrowed her dagger and began fashioning hooks out of the coconut's shell. Although they didn't catch anything, Cordelia had enjoyed the time she had spent with Jack. He had continued to tell her stories from his childhood. Her favorite stories, he had found, involved high adventure and a little bit of the unimaginable. Lucky for her, Jack's life had been filled with both.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by a fluttering sound. She turned and saw that the seagull that had woken her up was now standing upon Jack's chest looking curiously at his beard. It pecked at it once, and then grabbed one of the braids and tried to fly off with it. The captain woke with a yell, and threw a coconut shell after the now screaming seagull.

"Bloody sea bird!" Jack rubbed at his beard, trying to sooth his aching chin.

"It probably thought that your beard was a worm!" Cordelia joked.

"What! My beard does not look like a worm!"

"You're right, captain, it looks like two worms!" she exclaimed, wiggling two of her fingers as she laughed.

Jack smiled at Cordelia as she rolled on the ground with laughter. Her laughter must have been contagious, because soon Jack joined in. His laughter was short lived, however, as he looked past Cordelia at the ocean behind her.

"Oi!" he jumped up, startling Cordelia and sending sand flying.

Cordelia watched him confused, as he ran past her. As she followed his gaze out into the ocean, she saw what had made Jack so excited. A ship, a beautiful white sailed ship, floated just off shore, and a row boat, crewed by two men, was making a steady progress towards the island. Cordelia let out a woop, as she rushed to Jacks side.

"Better get your dagger," he cautioned, "there may be a ship, but we don't know what their intentions are."

As Cordelia went back to pick up her dagger, she glanced back as Jack pulled on his coat and made his way down the beach towards the two men. Looking back at the ground in front of her, she soon found her dagger, half buried in the sand. She snatched it up and put it back into the sheath on her hip as she made her way back down the beach.

Jack turned around as she drew near with a smile on his face. "Corrie, love, these two men are Mr. Ingrol and his young charge. Mr. Ingrol is the lovely ship _The Red River_'s Captain, and he has agreed to take us to the nearest port! Isn't it wonderful," he exclaimed pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry about this, but you will have to work with me here," he whispered in her ear. He pulled back and winked at her as he continued, "Won't it be wonderful to see mum again, dear? I'm sure she's worried sick about us after not hearing from us for so long."

Cordelia felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, but she knew that Jack needed her cooperation to make his story believable to the men. She nodded, unable to say anything as she thought first of her own mother and then her father.

"Oh, love, there, there, we'll be back home soon!" Jack mumbled, as he stood up, put an arm around her shoulders and led her towards the rowboat. "Everything will work out in the end, don't you fret."

It was a bit later as _The Red River_ pulled away from the little island that Cordelia truly began to believe him. She stood along the rail of the ship and looked back at the little spit of land that was shrinking into the distance. Everything was going to be alright. She was alive and alone, but she would survive. As she thought about the misfortunes that she had dealt with in the past, she felt a hand upon her shoulder. She turned and looked up at Jack, who was looking back down at her.

"This will make one hell of a story, love… though I think we can make it sound more interesting with sea turtles…"

She laughed, and looked back out at the speck in the distance. _I'm **not** alone this time_, she thought, _life won't be so bad_.

* * *

Well, there you have it! The end of the first part of the Ocean Series! Next, as I stated at the beginning of this chapter is **_Ocean's Curse_**, which begins at the beginning of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movies: The Curse of the Black Pearl.


End file.
